It’s a busy Friday evening and we’re rushing through Dublin airport. Top Irish products jump out from the shelves. Jameson, Baileys, Newbridge Silver. However, it’s the stunning display of blue and cream bottles that catch our attention.

Sophisticated and beautiful in its simplicity, you would assume some high-powered conglomerate is behind this smooth mix of Irish cream and whiskey. Instead, a modest husband and wife duo – operating out of outhouses on the family farm near Navan in Co Meath – are the innovators behind Coole Swan.

“The farm and the alcohol industry didn’t always mix,” says Mary Sadlier, a woman who talks a mile a minute and works just as hard. “When Philip and I first met, I was travelling the world working with Diageo. But once we got married, that lifestyle just wasn’t sustainable.”

Ultimate Cocktail

Who was to know the milk from the farm and her experience in Diageo would later be the ultimate cocktail? However, there was a road to get there. Mary and Philip certainly don’t do things by halves. After meeting in 1999, they were married a year later. It wasn’t long before baby Ruth arrived on the scene, followed by Laura the following year and Katie after that.

“We did a lot in six years,” laughs Mary “but that’s the kind of people we are. Once I’m sure of something, it’s all systems go.”

This, of course, is a great attitude to have in developing a product. As the couple’s babies turned into young girls, the idea of Coole Swan started to fly.

Philip says: “We were always interested in getting involved with food, and entrepreneurship is all about determination and drive. But there wasn’t some grand decision, a lightbulb moment. It was more that I was a big fan of cream liquor but had gone off a brand that I used enjoy and we could see there was a gap in the market for a premium Irish liquor. We had the farm, the cows and my degree in agriculture and Mary had her experience with Diageo and connections in the industry. It all started to make sense.”

Mary adds: “There is an old phrase that says: ‘What whiskey and butter can’t cure, isn’t worth making.’ Well, we just happened to agree with that.”

Premium Presence

Philip says: “Concentrating on premium meant everything had to be high-end, starting with the cream. So, the focus literally started at home on the farm and then we started working with Patsy McKevitt up in Terra in Bailieborough, which is the largest family owned cream liquor producer in Ireland.

“This was important to us. As we are a family business, it was a good partnership. This all started unrolling in 2006 and we had two years of R&D before going on shelf in 2008.”

So, why white? Mary says: “We wanted to get it as close to cream as possible and decided not to put caramel in our liquor. We opted for white Belgium chocolate which has a really smooth finish and a sweeter taste, meaning we didn’t have to add as much sugar. Complemented by a premium single-malt Irish whiskey and we were winning awards within a year or two of going on the shelf. As a funny marketing tagline, we say that we feed the cows whiskey and chocolate. The Americans love it.”

Teething Problems

As smooth as the liquor is, their road to market wasn’t all plain sailing.

“Look, we started off well, we were winning taste awards in the States and selling out, but we had serious teething problems. To be honest, our eyes were bigger than our belly and that is a lesson small farm businesses can learn from us. We did silly things, entered poor partnerships. They were elephants, we were mice and, inevitably, we got squashed, which made the whole thing unsustainable.

“So, in 2011, we said enough is enough, and started from scratch again. We said let’s go back to basics, find our route to market and stay loyal to the customers we already have – but it wasn’t a solo show.”

In fact, Mary says the internationally exported brand may not even have left the borders of Meath if it wasn’t for a few people who helped them at this crucial time.

“We were very lucky. We had a few partners who helped funding wise. Not big money but just enough.

“Getting stocked in SuperValu in those early days was a huge coup and John Cooney in Musgraves was a great support. And then we have people like Neven Maguire pouring Coole Swan into every second dessert he was making in demos across the country. ”

Cooking Concoctions

So, how did that situation come together?

Mary says: “In fairness to Neven, he is very good at promoting small Irish producers, but you have to be up to scratch. I’ll never forget when he arrived at the door one Sunday afternoon with his wife Amelda.

“One of the girls came into me saying: ‘Mam, Neven Maguire is at the door.’

“So, we showed him around the farm and told him what we were doing. It was only after he left that I realised that it was a bit of a lightening inspection. I thought, now that’s a clever guy, no wonder he can stand over his ingredients. He isn’t sending a third party to check things out. It was done before I realised it.”

Using Coole Swan in cooking isn’t just limited to Neven though.

“In 2012, one of our girls here, Dymphna, started bringing food to tastings, fairy cakes with Coole Swan icing on it, for example. Pretty soon, I was getting emails asking saying where can I buy the Coole Swan cheesecake or the éclairs or whatever Dymphna was whipping together that week. We weren’t making them but we put together a recipe book of Coole Swan desserts and you should see some of the creations that people make.”

Gathering Legs

While Mary and Philip are well settled in their modest office on the family farm, bottles of Coole Swan are certainly gathering legs, heading to destinations such as the States, UK, Denmark, Germany and even as far away as Auckland in New Zealand.

“We’ll be in Cyprus in 2016,” says Mary, as she points to the office world map, “and I’d love to export to Norway, Sweden, Poland and Italy in the near future.”

And numbers keep rising with sales more than doubling year on year. While they started off in 2008 with 800 cases, they exceeded 30,000 cases last year and are hoping to break that record again this year.

“Our best markets are either rural towns or inner cities, basically areas where people are concerned about quality ingredients. A town with a good bakery and butcher will generally mean good sales for us.”

So, what else does the future hold for Coole Swan?

“Recently, the girls were in school and the teacher asked my daughter Ruth what she would like to do when she is older. Her answer was: ‘Anything but being self-employed.’

“I had to laugh. The truth is it’s hard work and long hours but we do have great fun here in the office. The saying, ‘we’re not here for a long time but a good time’ certainly holds true in Coole Swan HQ, but I guess it would be lovely for the girls to continue the family business in the future.”

For more information, see www.cooleswan.com